Libraries are bridges to information and knowledge.

February 27, 2008.

Supreme Court rejects wiretapping suit

“The U.S. Supreme Court declined February 18 to consider whether plaintiffs who believed they had been spied on without a court order could challenge the legality of such surveillance without tangible proof-even if the proof is classified as a state secret. The rejection of the ACLU v. NSA appeal came two days after the expiration of the Protect America Act, which from August 2007 until February 16 legalized warrantless eavesdropping on phone and internet communications to U.S. homes, workplaces, libraries, and elsewhere….”

“Wikis are useful business tools. With planning and some staff time, you can make your own online collection of useful articles, tailored to your organization’s needs, to communicate about business processes, manage collective know-how and more” Since many libraries, including law libraries, have expressed an interest in incorporating wikis into their progrrams and services , we have included a link to the article: “How to Build Your own Wikipedia,” by Margaret Locher, CIO, February 27,2008. This is a “hands on” article which addresses issues many of us are beginning to encounter. Comments are welcome.

From Symantec

Summary:

Most IT professionals know or suspect that virtualization of computer systems may have an important role in their organization’s evolving infrastructure – though where and how are likely under investigation. Some organizations will decide that virtualization isn’t necessary. Others will find that they want to implement it in places, but not across the board. Sill others will move to implement it on a large scale. For those who decide to implement virtualization, the question is how to do it. Many people are not aware that a number of conversion tools and techniques are available now in the Microsoft Windows environment.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’d largest developer and publisher of international standards. Many of these standards relate to matters of interest and concern to law libraries and law librarians. Part of their process for standards development is to prepare drafts to various interested groups for comment and review. The following are among the standards currently under review by various groups, including the American Association of Law Libraries.:*

ISO TC 46 Open Ballots These ballots are in progress. Please send your vote and comments to: nisohq@niso.org

ISO/DIS 23081-2, Information and documentation — Records management processes for Metadata — Part 2: Conceptual and implementation issues

List of Sections Affected of the Official Compilation Codes Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (NYCRR). James R Sahlem, Principal Law Librarian, New York Supreme Court Library at Buffalo, is the Compiler of this ongoing work. The following is from his introduction:

PURPOSE

The following citator is intended to “fill the gap” in NYCRR, both print and electronic format. It covers the most recent ten-month period. It is designed to be printed and stapled and left at the end of your NYCRR or retained in e-format as a back-up to electronic research. Hopefully, this will demonstrate that the long-standing NYCRR gap problem can be cured. I will be providing twice-monthly cumulative updates. Those familiar with the CFR- LSA will have a good analogy.

Information regarding selected publications of the American Bar Association received in February 2008:

Essential Rules for the Deponent You need to prepare your client for a deposition. Preparation is the key to successfully reconstructing what did or did not happen in the case. How many rules are there for a witness in a deposition? What are the essential dos and don’ts for the deponent? Don’t head into your next deposition without reviewing the essential rules.

Individual Responsibilities To be effective in decision-making and oversight activities, a director must understand the corporation’s operations, including its areas of business and the competitive environment in which it operates. This knowledge enables the director to evaluate independently corporate and senior management performance, to provide strategic guidance, to work with management and other directors in developing and evaluating corporate objectives and strategic plans, and to challenge, support, and compensate management as warranted.

“The Web has exploded as medium for commerce and communication, but it’s also become a favorite attack vector for criminals. And while the bad guys are motivated by money, the damage they wreak transcends the balance sheet: loss of reputation, lawsuits, loss of investor confidence and sometimes crippling liability.”

“Click below to get a new whitepaper from FinJan that highlights the new techniques hackers use to infiltrate your networks, with critical steps you can take to prevent them by using real-time content inspection technologies.”

From: CIO Security Alert, February 23, 2008

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